Staffs of Security Service of Ukraine continue to detain Donbass residents when they cross line of contact

On November 1, I received a request from a resident of Donetsk on the fact of detention of her daughter Yulia Prosolova by the Security Service of Ukraine. The girl disappeared on October 19, after crossing the “Yelenovka” checkpoint on the way to Mariupol. She headed there to visit her friend.

After seeing a news report about the detention of their daughter in Odessa on suspicion of organizing an attack on the SSU colonel Kharabyriush, parents of Ms Prasolova went to Mariupol, where they filed statements to the police and the SSU about their daughter missing. To date, no official replies have been given. However, the girl’s relatives found out that a court hearing has already been scheduled to take place in Mariupol, where the measure of restraint will be chosen.

SSU Chairman Vasily Hrytsak, at his briefing, reported that Yulia was detained in Odessa, she is accused of blowing up the car of one of the staff of the Ukrainian special services. Also, the head of department provided a video showing the girl allegedly confessing to commit the crime.

I note that the data on the girl, announced by Gritsak do not correspond to reality. Prosolova has nothing to do with the DPR security forces. Moreover, the identification data are also wrong, namely, the girl’s patronymic and residence registration. Moreover, Yulia was not detained in Odessa, she was detained in Mariupol. And she is only guilty, as they probably see it, of having residence registration in Donetsk. I believe that arbitrary arrests by the SSU are unacceptable, especially with regard to young women.

Representatives of international organizations repeatedly documented the use of illegal interrogation methods by Ukrainian special services staffs to Donbass residents in their reports. After all sophisticated tortures and threats, people confess of crimes they did not commit. The mother of the illegally detained girl does not exclude that Yulia could be under the influence of psychotropic substances.

For my part, I wrote official letters to international organizations such as the UN Human Rights Committee, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the OSCE, and also to the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Valeriya Lutkovskaya, to immediately investigate the situation, to find out the reasons for the detention, to find Prosolova’s whereabouts and ensure the access of a doctor to her.